For teachers, mixed-grade classrooms a mixed bag

Strategy to meet class-size rules has upsides, but law change could reduce the pressure

GABRIELLE RUSSON

At English time, the two second-graders munch on orange slices as they read how prairie dogs kiss.

(The furry critters smooch by touching their front teeth, in case you wanted to know).

In another part of the classroom, a group of students wear oversized aviator-style headphones and play computer games to practice spelling.

It seems like a cookie-cutter elementary classroom, full of colorful hand-drawn pictures on the wall and miniature desks.

Look a little bit closer.

There are two distinct spelling lists posted on the white board, two different class schedules to follow and a teacher who juggles two lesson plans every day.

The number of elementary classrooms with mixed grades has jumped 57 percent — from 14 to 22 this school year — as Sarasota County Schools has lumped different grades together to keep class size down.

Otherwise, the district might break a state law and shell out thousands of taxpayer dollars in penalties or be forced to hire new teachers during a hiring freeze.

In 2002, Florida voters approved a constitutional amendment that dictates high school classes cannot include more than 25 students; 22 for grades 4-8; and 18 for pre-K to third grade.

Breaking the rules means fines — like the $643,386 that Manatee County Schools dished out this year.

But local school officials are watching closely what happens in Tallahassee as lawmakers have proposed a bill that would give districts more flexibility.

If the bill passes — which some say is likely — it would require officials to calculate the same ratios on a schoolwide average, instead by each individual class.

“We're keeping our fingers crossed,” said Sarasota County school board president Jane Goodwin at a meeting this week.

The proposed change would mean the need for mixed classes balancing out the oversized grades would disappear.

“We'd strive really to have none, to be honest with you,” said Al Weidner, Sarasota's deputy chief financial officer.

A mixed bag

Victoria Theiler wasn't happy when she got her new assignment: Teaching both first and second graders at Lakeview Elementary in Sarasota.

After all, Theiler is a veteran with second-graders, teaching that grade since 1990.

This would be something new.

And more work.

Double the lesson plans.

Plus, the pressure of keeping a strict schedule so not a minute is wasted.

How could Theiler teach two different grades at the same time so nobody is left behind or stuck with busy work?

But on Wednesday — with summer not so far away — Theiler admitted she is surprised by how much she has enjoyed this year.

She stands over Benjamin Elliott, a wiggly blonde first-grader who is eager for a lesson as they practice reading comprehension.

“I answered C,” Benjamin, 6, blurts out.

“Remember, don't tell what you answered,” Theiler reminds him in her quiet, soothing British accent.

The England-born teacher decorates her classroom with London scenes and lets a lucky student wear a cape as the king or queen of the week.

“Whoops,” Benjamin says, sounding not sorry at all.

Theiler is impressed with how much Benjamin and the other first-graders have grown this year.

In her class, the 10 second-graders often help the seven first-graders on their own, if the younger children have questions.

Except for Spanish and writing, Theiler mostly teaches the two grades at different times.

She's lucky, she knows.

She has 13 volunteers — parents, a grandmother, a retired teacher — who help in the classroom. Her fellow Lakeview teachers watch one grade in the computer lab, freeing Theiler up to teach the other students in a quiet classroom.

The parents have also bought in.

They requested Theiler to teach their children, knowing it would be a split class.

“It's been really good for him,” said Benjamin's mother, Tammy Elliott. “He's done great in this classroom.

“It sort of him encourages him to move forward and mature. Being with the older kids, it helps him a little bit.”

With so many things going right — positive parents, helpful volunteers and co-workers — it is a formula that might be difficult to emulate elsewhere.

So understandably, Theiler sees both sides as to whether the district should keep mixed classes.

“I don't know if it would work all schools,” she said. “For the kids, from what I can see, they've benefited from this. The teacher? Maybe not.